The old butler of Osborn Manor, who had served Norman Osborn, then Harry Osborn, and now served Felicia Hardy, listened to their purpose and spoke with a confused expression.
As soon as he said this,
Mary was shocked.
Gwen's small mouth was slightly agape.
Hawk also raised an eyebrow.
Oh!
Did Peter finally realize that it was better to find a rich woman than to struggle on his own, so he abandoned Mary and eloped with Black Cat?
No, that's not right.
He remembered that it wasn't a movie, but in the Spider-Man comics, there was a version where Black Cat Felicia and Spider-Man Peter were indeed lovers.
So, strictly speaking, this shouldn't be called elopement.
But...
This won't do!
How could this be allowed?
You haven't broken up with Mary yet; this is two-timing, this is scumbag behavior.
As Hawk, whose persona was one of devotion, his thoughts wandered, and he openly scorned Peter's actions.
Just then,
Gwen, who was beside him, caught a glimpse of the mischievous smile on her fiancé's face and gently elbowed Hawk.
Hawk immediately snapped back to reality and looked at Gwen.
Gwen glared at Hawk, then looked at Mary, who was still in shock beside her, and quickly embraced her best friend protectively, looking towards the old butler: "Did Peter or Felicia say where they were going, or what they were going to do?"
The old butler shook his head.
"No, but Miss and Peter left in a hurry."
"In a hurry?"
"Yes."
The old butler nodded, then said, "For specifics, you can call Miss's satellite phone. She just called yesterday."
Gwen's eyes lit up: "Can we make a call then?"
Mary was silent at this point.
The old butler smiled and said, "Of course," then turned and led the three into the house. After telling them to wait, he went to get the satellite phone.
Gwen pulled the silent Mary to sit on the living room sofa: "You just heard, they left in a hurry, so it must have been something urgent. Peter doesn't have a satellite phone, so he couldn't contact you."
Ordinary best friends advise breaking up, not making up.
But those are fake best friends.
Gwen was a true best friend.
So she tried hard to cover for Peter.
As Peter's good brother, Hawk remained silent, because Gwen was not only Mary's true best friend but also his fiancée. At this moment, Gwen's words were enough. If he also tried to cover for Peter, it would seem like both he and his wife were speaking up for Peter.
That would not be good.
Mary listened to Gwen's explanations, and the anxious expression she had for Peter gradually calmed down: "But Felicia has one. He could have borrowed Felicia's."
Gwen was stunned by this, then looked up at Hawk, who was sitting beside her, with a pleading gaze.
After Hawk received the signal, his thoughts turned, and he was about to save the situation when...
The old butler returned, holding the satellite phone: "The phone is already..."
Before he finished speaking,
Mary already shot up, took the satellite phone, said a few words, then listened to Felicia's voice from the other end of the satellite phone, and calmly said, "Can Peter take the call?"
After a while,
Peter's voice came through the satellite phone.
Mary held the phone and walked to the side.
Gwen and Hawk exchanged glances, then looked at the old butler who was walking towards them.
The old butler's expression was also a little curious: "When I called Miss, and heard you came looking for Peter, Peter said he had called Aunt May. Didn't you go look for her?"
Gwen was slightly stunned: "Aunt May? She said Peter hadn't called her either."
Hawk, who was beside them, chuckled and looked at Gwen: "Aunt May never said Peter didn't call her. She just said she came home very late last night and that the next day, she and Mary didn't see Peter in his bedroom."
Gwen turned to look at Hawk, her expression somewhat shocked.
"You mean... Aunt May hid it from us? Why?"
"Who knows?"
Hawk shrugged.
Anyway, it was enough to confirm that his good friend Peter hadn't disappeared without a trace.
As for why Peter only called Aunt May but not Mary, that was Peter's private matter.
Hawk thought to himself.
Seeing this, Gwen didn't bother to continue talking to Hawk and focused her gaze on Mary, who was standing by a nearby window, talking to Peter on the satellite phone. Her expression showed no excitement or worry, only calm.
She didn't know why,
but she had a bad premonition.
After a while,
Mary hung up the satellite phone, walked back calmly, and handed the satellite phone back to the old butler with a slight smile: "Thank you."
The old butler took the phone.
Mary then looked at Gwen: "Sorry, it was a false alarm. Peter isn't missing. Let's go, Gwen."
Gwen looked at Mary's expression, wanting to say something, but in the end, she just nodded, got up from the sofa, hummed, and said to the old butler, "Thank you for your trouble."
Hawk also got up and thanked the old butler.
The old butler smiled and escorted the three back to the door.
Before long,
the yellow Toyota corolla's engine roared, and it smoothly drove out of Osborn Manor.
On the way, as Hawk drove towards Mary's house,
Mary, sitting in the back seat, told Hawk, who was driving, and Gwen, who was sitting beside her, about her conversation with Peter and why Peter had suddenly disappeared.
"Peter didn't disappear suddenly."
"It was Felicia."
"That day, Felicia called Peter and said that while she was tidying things up at the Manor, she found videotapes related to Richard Parker and Mary Parker, saying she might have found new clues."
"That is, Peter's parents."
"When Peter heard this news, he immediately rushed to Osborn Manor."
...
Gwen, who was listening beside them, frowned slightly: "Peter's parents... didn't they die in a plane crash when Peter was very young?"
Hawk, who was driving, looked at Gwen through the rearview mirror: "That's what the reports said. The plane lost signal over the Pacific, but the wreckage was never found."
If it were in the real Universe, even if the plane wreckage wasn't found, it would be 100% certain that they died.
The authorities also confirmed this.
But...
This was the Marvel Universe. Considering that, as long as the bodies of Richard Parker and Mary Parker weren't confirmed, there was a high probability that these two were still alive.
Oh, right.
When he was in Hell, he should have asked Mephisto.
Hawk's eyes lit up, then he shook his head with a smile internally.
Mary, sitting in the back seat, continued to talk about the plane crash involving Richard Parker and Mary Parker, following Hawk and Gwen's question and answer.
At that time, Richard Parker and Mary Parker were both working for Osborn.
And at that time, Norman Osborn had not yet become so ill that he was bedridden. The Spider-Serum that the Parkers were researching was actually initially developed to cure Osborn's unknown illness.
Although it has now been proven that Osborn's condition was not an illness at all, but a curse from the Hell Witch on the entire Osborn family.
But the Parkers and Norman Osborn himself didn't know that.
As a result...
The Parkers accidentally mixed their own blood into the Spider-Serum research, discovering the key to making the Spider-Serum work, but at the same time, it also caused that spider to mutate.
Simply put,
it was a 'specific person, specific spider' situation. The serum from the mutated spider, which carried Parker's DNA fragments, only worked for the Parker family, that is, Peter.
But for others, this was not a serum, but a poison.
After the Parkers reported this matter to Norman Osborn, they hoped that Norman Osborn could provide the second spider, which was called the Golden Spider.
Then they learned about the origin of this Golden Spider from Norman. So they temporarily entrusted little Peter to Ben Parker and Aunt May's home, and that night, they took Osborn's private plane, intending to go to the origin site for research work.
As a result...
The plane crashed, and Richard Parker and Aunt May never returned.
And Norman also stored that Golden Spider in Osborn's museum. The rest of the story is very clear.
When Peter visited Osborn's museum, the long-forgotten mutated spider coincidentally bit Peter, causing him to mutate.
"So..."
"Yes, the videotape contained the coordinates of where that spider was found."
"Where is it?"
"Peter didn't say. He said the location was Osborn's trade secret."
...Alright.
Gwen nodded when she heard this, not finding the answer strange. Then, thinking of Aunt May, she asked curiously, "Then why didn't Aunt May tell us before, and when we went there? Even if she didn't tell us, seeing that Mary was so anxious she was about to call the police, she should have secretly told Mary. Why didn't she tell Mary either?"
Hawk thought seriously for a moment, then looked at Gwen, who was deep in thought.
"Maybe..."
"She also doesn't approve of Peter and Mary."
..."
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